I Found This Very Interesting

sgtrock21

A creative workaround of firearm advertising bans.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/the-hired-guns-of-instagram/ar-AAD6Quv?li=BBnb7Kz

I still remember the old Guns-N-Babes website. I support equal rights for every USA citizen but don't apologize for appreciating attractive females. I'm a 67 year old hetro male. I'm old but I aint' yet dead. When they are scantily clad and rock and rolling (firing full auto) I realize recoil can be a good thing!   

CaliFFL

Marketing 101: sex sells.  Anything that is primarily purchased by men will have attractive women in the ad campaigns. Motorcycles, beer, guns, etc. 

A total ban on gun advertising by social media will not stop gun sales. Some products sell themselves. Ever see an ad for cocaine or heroin? 

Diver43

CaliFFL, we may not always agree but you are spot on with this.

zorba

What happens on "social media" has zero credence with anybody whose mental age is greater than 17. Unfortunately, that leaves a HUGE demographic who thinks it matters.

CaliFFL

zorba said:

What happens on "social media" has zero credence with anybody whose mental age is greater than 17. Unfortunately, that leaves a HUGE demographic who thinks it matters.

Disagree. 1.5 billion people use Facebook daily. 20% of the planet on one platform. As a business owner, you'd be crazy not to advertise on social media. 

FYI - This forum is in fact, social media. I'm pretty sure most of us at G&A  are slightly above the 17 yo mentally. 

zorba

I won't argue semantics - to me, this forum is the direct successor to the old dial up BBSes, not in the same class as "social media" which was created for teenagers. 1.5 billion? There are a LOT of idiots, or at least clueless people in this world. If "everybody else" is doing something, that's usually a pretty good reason to at the very least look at alternatives!

But I've never seen anything as insane as "social media" - everybody knows the downsides yet not only do they continue to associate themselves with it, they actually become apologists for it! Wow, just wow. There must be some basic psychology in play here that I don't get...

I'm not convinced that businesses need to associate themselves with it either- although that is the popular "wisdom". I want to see their website and they better pay attention to same and not ignore their contact forms like quite a few of the fortune 500 companies do! Why would I want to wade through the sewer of "social media" when I can go directly to a company's website instead of a third party?

CaliFFL

zorba said:

I'm not convinced that businesses need to associate themselves with it either- although that is the popular "wisdom". I want to see their website and they better pay attention to same and not ignore their contact forms like quite a few of the fortune 500 companies do! Why would I want to wade through the sewer of "social media" when I can go directly to a company's website instead of a third party?

20% of the planet is looking at Facebook and you're not convinced advertising there works?!? 

The ads on FB always have the link to the company's page. Social media gives the business visibility to the public, especially start ups. It's not a third party, it's similar to watching TV. 

The difference with social media is the algorithms customize the ads to the user. The ads that are in my feed are hunting, fishing, motorcycles, tools, etc related. And I can scroll right by if I choose. 



Here's an example: Chainsaw blade sharpener. I've never seen this design, it may be crap, but it is a field sharpener, maybe I'll give it a try. I'll read the reviews and decide. 

I never would've known this existed if not for social media. 

zorba

All I have to do is Google "Chainsaw sharpener", and everything available will be at my fingertips. Spare me the apologetics - I don't need to sell my soul.

Oh, and watching television doesn't carry the potential of severe negative consequences, nor does it spy on me and I'm not subjected to 17 year old angst and DRAMA; although TV is mostly geared towards 12 year olds and I stopped watching it decades ago.

zorba

I would bet, that if this product is worth a darn, that you'll find it being discussed on FORUMS dealing with chainsaw products - the world doesn't revolve around "social media" despite what its apologists would have you believe.

And as my good friend Forrest Gump would say, "That's all I have to say about that.".

earlyagain

Im not really sure how that works. Certain firearms like the ones featured in the linked article represent significant expense. The scantily clad young women draw attention, but how much money? I look and don't purchase. Im also a FB exempt individual, but consider myself an insignificant anomaly. Still unless someone's already inclined towards a purchase, seems like they'd also look and not purchase.

CaliFFL

If the gun companies are paying the girls thousand$ to pose with their gear, they are getting ROI. 

Plenty of men (people) buy stuff because of advertising. Half of the hunting shows have attractive women. It’s not an accident.